Kellogg Kids

After a brief hiatus from our regular get togethers, the Kellogg brunches started up again last Saturday.  It was kid galore which meant fun for Mom to see her friends, and fun for Luke to make new friends.  We started the morning at Katherine's house with a delicious brunch, and then almost everyone came over to our house afterward for a continued playdate.  It was all really fun except for when Luke pooped his pants in Katherine's backyard....twice...diarrhea....on her back stoop.  Luckily Katherine & Eliah didn't seem to mind so much once Matt sprayed off the stoop with the hose and then offered to fix their broken sliding door as compensation:)  

On Sunday Mom and Dad came down and we enjoyed a nice boat ride (as nice as a boat ride with two kids, one of which hates her life vest, can be) and a little beach time too.  

In child news, Luke is getting too smart for our liking.  He has started negotiating for things, and is 

such a little adult when he tries.  For example he'll say "How about we clean up this puzzle, and then we have a little bit of juice with dinner?  Is that an option?  I think that is a good idea."  It is so funny.  Or he'll ask me something, I'll say no, and he'll go find Matt and ask him.  Can't believe the playing the parents has already started!  He's definitely getting so funny with what he says in general.  Like he says "Well, hurry up then Mama!" or "I'm asking you a question, Mama.  You need to answer me."  What a little parrot.    

Potty training is still going great.  He can go and pee by himself completely now, pulling up and down his pants by himself, flushing and washing his hands all unassisted.  He actually won't let you help him, he wants his privacy:)  Pooping is still a work in progress, but we're seeing improvement at least!

After a few times of allowing him to pee in the grass or bushes when there weren't bathrooms around, now we have a little problem where he drops his pants in public places to pee on bushes.  Like at the park the other day for example, he was playing next to this family and then just pulled down his pants out of nowhere!  He must have gotten the urge?  Kind of embarrassing!  

Claire gets cuter every day, I swear.  She has started making this sound with her mouth and lips whenever she's hungry or tired, and it is so cute.  I think it sounds like a pigeon.  I attached a video of it here so you can get an idea of the sound.  

She is still not sleeping through the night, up usually two times per night, but I can't really blame her because I think she really is hungry during the night.  I am still trying to exclusively breastfeed her, but even with pumping three times a day at work I'm not keeping up with how much she is eating these days.  I don't have enough milk at night before bed to give her to really fill her up to get her through 8-10 hours of sleep.  We're going to have to start supplementing with formula in a few days here after my freezer supply of milk is depleted.  Once the formula is introduced, we'll be able to stuff her to the gills before bed so there should be no excuses for waking up!  On the subject of food, we gave Claire banana this week and she LOVED it.  Definitely a much bigger hit than the avocado had been.  Maybe she has a sweet tooth like her Ma.  She is 100% sitting up by herself now, which makes it fun for her to play with a lot more of her toys, and she can sit in strollers by herself instead of being in the infant seat.  Finally, she loves peek a boo, just like Luke did, and it is such a treat to watch her squeal with delight when you play the game with her.

Note Luke's not wearing pants, just underwear after the double trouble we experienced.

Rio & Luke swinging together

Taylor and Dominic

Elouise and Corinne

Wagon rides from Bethany.  Taylor was contemplating trying to get in there, too.

Girlfriends:)

Bounce house got a nice workout.  Luke has so much more fun in it when he has other kids to play in it with him.

First time swimming for Elouise

Big little man Dominic

Boating with G&G Mackus

Beaching

Playing frisbee

Eating prunes!  Not as much of a fan as the bananas, but better received than the avocado

Wednesday visits with G&G Baranko.  They were watching him paint a birdhouse, an art project for his new school.

Finished birdhouse!

Put that skirt down little lady!

Bunny ears:)

Crazy hair day at the Baranko house.  Claire got the memo.

First time taking both kids in the bike trailer.  Dry run as a stroller before we hook it on the bike next time.  It went well except for Luke elbowing her all the time.  This girl can take a lot of elbows to the head without seeming upset in the least, let's hope that sticks with a big brother who is very physical!